GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Tonight the No. 20 ranked Calvin women's soccer team played its final non-conference match of the season when it defeated the Red Hawks of Illinois Tech 2-0. With tonight's result the Knights improved to 9-1 overall while Illinois Tech fell to 9-4.
The Knights saw an early opportunity when junior
Nora Kucinski (Portage, Mich./Portage Northern) fired a shot off the cross bar in the second minute of the match. Looking to get some momentum on their side the Red Hawks threw bodies forward and made several pushes on the other end. However, junior goalkeeper
Aubree Lee (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) kept the attacks at bay as she came up with four saves in the first half.
In the 27th minute, the Knights saw an opportunity to counterattack after freshman
Emily Kovar (Chicago, Ill./Mother McCauley) stole the ball from a Red Hawk in the middle of the field. Sophomore
Lexi Glowicki (Rochester, Mich./Lutheran High North) gathered possession and ventured further into Illinois Tech territory. With three defenders closing in, Glowicki dished the ball off to junior
Ellery Boeving (Howell, Mich./Howell) who took one touch before launching a shot into the top left hand corner of the net to give Calvin the 1-0 lead.
Ten minutes later, the Knights capitalized on a throw-in deep on the Red Hawks side of the field when sophomore
Alexa Boersma (Caledonia, Mich./South Christian) was able to find freshman
Maya Thebeau (Cape Girardeau, Mo./Notre Dame Regional) on the end of the cross who beat the goalkeeper and found the back of the net.
The second half was an even affair as both goal keepers made multiple saves that kept the score the same and Calvin walked away with the 2-0 victory.
Illinois Tech outshot the Knights 11-9 while both teams notched seven shots on goal. Lee finished the match with a season high seven saves as the Knights picked up their seventh clean sheet of the season, including their fifth in a row.
COACHES COMMENTS: "Tonight was a really great result for our team," said head coach
Emily Ottenhoff. "Illinois Tech is a quality team that continues to get better as the season goes on, and they challenged us in some different ways tonight. Really happy to finish our non-conference schedule with a win, and we're looking forward to getting back to work as we head into the rest of conference play."
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in action on Saturday, October 10th when they welcome Albion to campus for a 1 PM match up.
